SMARTMIX® GETS SMARTER

For over 50 years, Benedict Sand & Gravel have refined and enhanced their product range. Today they are the market leaders in the manufacture and supply of innovative, fit-for-purpose construction materials for horticultural and civil construction projects.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Benedict’s renowned SmartMix® range of soils. Long considered the benchmark for horticultural growing media in Sydney and beyond, the SmartMix® range is based on the philosophy that manufactured soils should improve with age.

To qualify for inclusion in the SmartMix® range, a soil must be physically stable and be resistant to slumping. Benedict Soil Scientist, Murray Fraser, explains, “Too many manufactured soils are made to resemble potting mixes. Soils must be engineered and manufactured with end-use in mind. In commercial outdoor landscaping, this requires the selection and use of quality mineral matter, like sands and clays, in order to create the foundation that you need. The unstable nature of organics means that they are only ever an amendment and never a building block.”

SMARTMIX® 6 | THE PREMIUM LANDSCAPE SOIL

Most recently, Benedict’s innovation and development team have been working on re-engineering SmartMix® 6 – Native Organic Planting Mix, with the aim of further improving its suitability for phosphorus-sensitive species. Benedict’s SmartMix® 6 is rightly regarded by many as a premium quality landscape soil that is intended for Australian native and mixed planting situations. The team's Efforts have been rewarded by a new and improved version of the old favourite mix. PH has been dropped and, through the application of smart chemistry, the plant’s phosphorus availability has been reduced. The exciting new ingredient in the improved SmartMix® 6 is washed, gap-graded, Hawkesbury sandstone material, which conveniently is a by-product from another Benedict quarrying operation.

Trial results show that the new blend has an optimised pH for plants that prefer the acid to neutral range (i.e. 5.5 to 7.0). The available phosphorus level is very low, enabling the new mix to claim suitability for P-sensitive species. As an added bonus, the new SmartMix® 6 complies with the elusive RMS QA Specification R178 ‘Imported General Purpose Topsoil’, which makes it the first choice for contractors and specifiers when seeking an RMS R178 compliant material.

MAKE THE RIGHT CALL

Benedict Sand & Gravel is your one-stop-shop for quality assured horticultural materials. Call the team on 9986 3500 or visit their website for further information.